I can't help thinking that a vernier caliper would be a handy addition to my toolbox. Like a lot of tools though the price range varies hugely from ebay specials for under a fiver to rather more seriously priced kit.

I don't need them to be digital (most of the really cheap ones seem to be digital) just accurate enough to differentiate the .1mm differences in seatposts and tubes etc. Ultimate (the bike stand people) do one for 60 quid, which seems rather a lot (although anything marked up to be a bike tool seems to be) but there's no point buying a £5 piece of junk either if it's not going to be accurate. What sort of money should I be looking at spending (cheaper is best) to get something accurate enough for bike use? Any recommended names?

Aldi and/or lidl reguarly have them in for a few quid. I keep meaning to pick one up.

I got the £30 one from Maplin but that stopped reading within 2 months.
Got a £30 from Farnell which is going strong. You have to keep resetting it whenever you turn it on though, not ideal.

Get a digital one whatever! So much more user friendly.

Get a digital one whatever! So much more user friendly.

Roughly translated into "I have never been able to read a proper one correctly" 😉

Normal ones dont need resetting, zeroing off or run out of batteries !!

Normal ones dont need resetting, zeroing off or run out of batteries !!

Only used by purists! Let them use their digital ones we can keep our 'normal' ones niche 😉

Wow I knew I'd get a luddite response at some point, but that was really quick 🙂

I bought one of the aldi ones a while back and it seem fine. I just use if the for the same purpose as the OP – checking seatpost sizes etc.

I "acquired" my pretty basic 150mm, digital Mitutoyo from a former employer, at the time it was worth approx £80-90 the price has tumbled since then, and I think similar products from various other brands can be gotten for about £25 or lower now…

Personally I would always opt for a digital jobbie; mines way past it’s calibration date, but it still works a treat, and being able to read some actual digits rather than squinting at a dial and potentially getting the wrong reading is quite reassuring.

For home use I’d just get a cheap 4” one from Maplin, if it’s only going to come out once in a blue moon to check seat post diameters and chain lines…

These people do one for £19.95+vat. Search for BISPU-13610C http://www.mscjlindustrial.co.uk/cgi/insrhm

I've just ordered one of these from Maplins. I can't imagine it's great but should do the job and nice and cheap too.

A caliper can't be a vernier caliper if it has a digital readout.

I used verniers big and small every day of my working life as an engineer, digital ones make life so much easier.

Why do people try to make life hard for themselves?

I've got a cheep one from halfords, does the job and gives the same readings as the ISO certified one at work.

As for the verier scale Vs Dial Vs Digital debate, dials go out of calibration, digital ones are probably easier to read, but if your only using it once a blue moon it'll always be flat, if you can read a verier scale then just get a propper old skool one for a fiver.

I got mine for a fiver from Fleabay. Digital, but it even came with batteries.
I use it for work in front of customers so easy to read is a must.

I got a digital one from aldi or lidl, can't remember which – seems fine.

Normal ones dont need resetting, zeroing off or run out of batteries !!

As someone who currently works in engineering I can tell you that digital verniers are “normal” these days, more often than not that’s what people pull out when there’s a’measuin to be done…

It’s not so much about accuracy as it is about reducing the instances of operator error and misreading, in much the same way the last “proper” drawing board I saw in an engineering office was set horizontally with a few (CAD drafted) layouts and some cups of tea on it.

Most professions move on and acquire useful new time saving technology.

I’m sure there are people who merrily scale with slide rules and draft by hand, but these people are quite frankly a couple of decades behind the rest of the planet and while their work may be beautiful to look at (it often is) it takes far longer, is harder to edit and requires a large format scanner to email to a client…

Having said all that I have seen various apparently educated people attempt to use verniers as various things from “tomahawks” to “adjustable spanners” hence mine lives in a locked drawer…

A caliper can't be a vernier caliper if it has a digital readout.

While obviously it doesn't have the vernier scale along it, functionally it achieves the same thing with a lot less fuss for the user…

Of course any new technology would be useless if it didn’t leave something for pedants to quibble over…

Personally I’d prefer to carry a wind up gramophone, but they keep forcing these damned Mp3 players on us, with their manageable weight and gigabytes of storage…

thumbs up for the aldi ones. ive got three of these. one at home and two at work.(one with a cracked screen. doh!)never let me down yet.easy to read

So 'vernier' calipers are now out of date and may be difficult for some to read – nichetastic! Anybody without a digital watch is living in the past – don't tell me you use those awful clock face types with two hands to read of before you know the time!

Sv, my Dad's got a watch with a circular slide rule in the bezel, you'd love that 🙂
Get a well known brand like Mitutoyo imo, some of the really cheap ones gobble through batteries and are invariably dead when you go to use them, the Mitutoyo seem to just run forever ime.

A clock face is probably an ergonomic improvement over a digital display. A vernier is not 🙂

for that level of accuracy in bike land any vernier will do:

a basic draper, clarke et al, other mid/low price tool company ones will be fine.

£12 from machine mart:
http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/cm100-vernier-caliper

ooOOoo – Member

A clock face is probably an ergonomic improvement over a digital display. A vernier is not

you can get verniers with a dial gauge on, rather than the digital display. i like them!

you can get verniers with a dial gauge on, rather than the digital display. i like them!

Nope that's a Dial caliper again similar function, marginally more user friendly than a vernier caliper…

I assume we're being pedantic now…

99p off Ebay 🙄

Not digital which is ok by me, I've used a similar one at work daily since year dot.

The slide is a bit ropey, does the job though.

Dial caliper

Stuff with dials on, always good.

If you haven't already bought one, Ebay is definately your friend here. I got a non digital one for about £6 including postage and it works perfectly. Went for non-digital delibrately as I knew it would sit in the cupboard for months/years between uses so batteries would not be ideal.

V8 – welcome 😉

I've got a dial caliper, not as accurate as a proper vernier, (0.1mm scale instead of 0.02mm) and it's made of plastic, (you know like carbon fibre…. sort of). Dead useful, use mine loads more than once every few months.

Cromwell tools sell Moore and Wright verniers, quality brand and decent price.

I have an Aldi one. Invaluable for measuring all manner of stuff and well built. Gott a strip of batteries of Ebay.

My Aldi one didn't work properly. Refund!

Benbag, Moore and Wright ain't what they used to be…

If anyone's interested I have a TESA Vernier caliper (one of the ones that came in a wooden box) going spare. I can even supply it with a UKAS certificate if required – email in profile.

Thisisnotaspoon, why don't digital and Vernier calipers go out of calibration?

fair enough, it's benjag by the way!

Sorry bud, eyes aint what they used to be, that why I'm selling a Vernier caliper…